Proud Dad!!!

[Hibckp]

My daughter caught her first fish yesterday afternoon. She got 2 actually. Both sunfish, the first one was very small, so it immidieatly got casted out on Dad's line. Then she nailed this pretty big red ear Sunfish! (second 2 pics) She wasnt scared at all, and even wanted to touch the fish.[]







PS dont buy the spongebob squarepants fishing rod. I didnt expect much from it, but its terrible. The reel crank is very short, small and clumsy espicially for a child, and the drag almost couldnt handle that red ear sunfish!!!

Can anyone reccomend a good quality small rod rell combo, maybe for her next summers fishing outtings??
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[Tarpon4me]

Congrats man. I know exactly how you feel. My 5 year old just started casting his own reel, and catching fish completely on his own. It's a really cool experiance, and I wouldn't trade it for nothing in the world.

As for a good recommendation, Zebco makes quite a bit of smaller outfits, that aren't the cheap plastic theme based rigs. The best i've found are the basspro brand ones. They are ultra light style spin casters like the Zebco, and super easy for a younger child to opperate. I'd start there. [cool]
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[Hibckp]

thanks man,
it was a proud moment, obvioulsy i did most of the work, but she was excited and actually wanted to try casting and reeling in fish, so that counts. Plus i was amazed she wasnt grossed out by the fish, or the worms we used as bait. She definately didnt get that from her mom, who wont even touch or go near any type of fish. And as you can see she was proud of the red ear sunfish she caught.



As for the equipment, like i said, i didnt expect much from the spongebob rod/reel. But if Im am having trouble using it, then how would i expect my 3 year old to??? I will check out the zebco outfits, and maybe make a trip to BassPro with my daughter, that place is sweet.
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[davetclown]

congrats.. deffenatly a proud moment.

the pole is ok if the reel is removable. go out and pick up a zebco 202, or 202 clasic, If you can find an older modle in a garage sale they have a metal housing. "best quality" That is a reel that she can use for many years and if taken care of can be passed down to her children.

otherwise, the barby pole in the past has gotten some high ratings. there has been a few record cats pulled in with them. I would try to find one on a shelf and not in a blister packege.

[gdn443]

Awesome, looks like a young Flygoddess in the making. My granddaughters both learned on the Barbie pole then moved up to an ultra light trout spinning outfit. My grandson was too scaried to touch the fish. [frown][crazy] Must have his Grandmothers blood in him. []
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[albinotrout]

Very nice now you have her hooked for life. When I got my kids their first rods I skipped the cheap rods similar to what you have there. I went with a nice spinning combo. They learned fast how to cast it and now they are pros, my son has even moved up to a fly rod. Here is a pic of my daughter using her pink themed rod that I purchased a couple years ago. They made it for the breast cancer people. It is a shakespeare I believe. She also has a nice Daiwa spinning combo. For your daughter I would recommend a light or med light outfit. I know cabelas sells an IM6 graphite for pretty decent price. Around $20-$30.

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[davetclown]

I was at meijers the other day when the power went out, so I stopped to look at some combo's.

Shakesphere had one that caught my eye, "Fury"

great photo there.. congrats.

Looks like that tube has plenty of growing room for her..

[albinotrout]

It is a 16 inch tube and she loves it. She loves the idea of being able to get out with dad.
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[Paulpro]

Congrats on that epic day!Heres what I did to a scooby rod I found.It was missing the reel "broke off"so I added a spinning reel I had,you can find these reels cheap,found it at an icefishing website$10.I only use this rod bottom fishing,or trolling,its really funny when you outfish your buddy with it I used a 500.The rod its self is strong though.Also this way she could get used to a spinning reel?Congrats on that proud moment[fishin]
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[wyominfish]

Now thats exactly how a little girl should be brought up in the world. Keep her fishing so you guys will always have something to do with eachother for years to come!
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